UMass Dartmouth faced with more than $400M in deferred maintenance

DARTMOUTH — The aging University of Massachusetts Dartmouth campus is grappling with up to $426 million in deferred maintenance, according to the interim provost.

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By MATT CAMARA

southcoasttoday.com

By MATT CAMARA

Posted Feb. 6, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 6, 2013 at 11:37 AM

By MATT CAMARA

Posted Feb. 6, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 6, 2013 at 11:37 AM

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DARTMOUTH — The aging University of Massachusetts Dartmouth campus is grappling with up to $426 million in deferred maintenance, according to the interim provost.

Provost Alex Fowler cited that figure at the late January meeting of the Faculty Senate. He did not return a call Tuesday seeking more information.

Meanwhile, in the wake of a recent water leak in the UMass Dartmouth Science and Engineering Building that flooded at least four rooms, students are wondering why it takes so long to fix the things that are already broken.

"I had the heat cranked up all the way and it was still frigid today," said senior Ashley Stone, who lives in the townhouse-style Cedar Dell student residence. Stone added that Cedar Dell sometimes loses heat or hot water for short periods of time and that university staff can be slow in responding to student complaints.

University spokesman John Hoey said the campus has made "tremendous progress" in addressing the years of deferred maintenance projects and has dipped into its own funding to correct deficiencies when state funding fell short in recent years.

Many campus buildings are state facilities and the university can find it difficult to keep up maintenance when state funding slows, he said.

Hoey said he could not provide an immediate response to student complaints about heat and hot water in the dorms without knowing where specifically in the student residences they live.

The university has corrected a number of issues by putting the cost savings from its energy-efficiency plan into maintenance, Hoey said. He added that the state has also provided more funding in recent years for projects such as the $40 million library renovation finished this year.

Deferred maintenance is nothing new on the UMass Dartmouth campus where, according to the university's website, the first buildings were constructed starting in 1964.

A 2010 report by energy services company NORESCO said building systems at the university are in a "severe state of disrepair" and that many have seen "minimal if any" preventative maintenance, according to report excerpts in the UMass system's latest capital improvement plan.

The report went on to say that many of the university's heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems needed serious repairs or "outright replacement."

At the senate meeting last week, Fowler blamed faulty HVAC for the recent water leak in the science building, acknowledging that the system's condition affects staff morale and student enrollment.

Other UMass campuses struggle with maintenance issues, as well. The university system's capital plan mentions that a 1998 report found 25 percent of UMass Amherst's campus had issues stemming from deferred maintenance and budgeted $72 million for UMass Boston to catch up on its backlog.

A group of students in the school's campus center Tuesday said they understand university staff try to keep everything running smoothly but that taking classes in cold rooms can be frustrating.